Nguyen Cha’ney came by last nite and we collaborated on this little bit. I’m not sure if I’m done with this song yet. I think there’s more that could be done/added/rearranged. Either way, I wanted to post it so I could hear it in the car.

Things used:

• Korg MicroKorg
• Korg Volca Bass
• Drums from a phone app
• Random audio bits (the “Start The Reactor” and “Play That Funky Beat” voices).
• Korg MicroKeys
• Ableton Live (also known as “the great learning curve”)

Thought about playing with tons of Ping-Pong delay and chorus today. I hate working to a click or tempo at all. I like letting the spirit move me for timing. This is obviously not a good way to work. Once again, I went for that heaving breathing tempo I love so much because it’s in my head and it’s slow enough that I can follow it.

No drums/percussion here. Just 2 melody lines from the Microkorg ping pong’d delayed. Then crap thrown on top. There is a little odd alias’ing on the first melody as I have it washed in some digital chorus plug in that makes it ‘tinny’. I dont mind this. It may bother some.

Either way, this was fun to make. I’ve stopped making it, and you get to hear it. Enjoy.

This is my first attempt at true digital multi-track recording using Ableton Live software with my new digital audio interface (Focusrite Scarlett 18i20). This interface has replaced the hummy, hissy, crackly old analog Behringer Mixer I’ve had for 13 years. I am by no means an expert at this, and I am still not a musician. Here’s what I did:

1. I played a couple chords using a preset grand piano from Ableton’s instrument selections. (Cranked up the “hardness” and “brightness” of the piano to give it that Tony Banks/Genesis “Heathaze” kinda sound). Then added a bunch of digital reverb (also from Ableton effects racks) to create a ghostly big piano.
2. I played the root keys of the chord sequence with one finger using the Volca Bass with a little cut off release at the end (a little knob twiddling).
3. I played the same chord sequence using the MicroKorg on a retro strings synth setting.
4. I played the same chord sequence using the MicroKorg on some waffle-esque arpeggio setting through the Red Box (Korg Mini-KP) with a stereo channel panner, with digital chorus (from Ableton effects racks) to make it pan a little harder.

This is by no stretch a musical masterpiece. It is, however, something to be heard simply on the basis of clarity. I like how the opening piano just emerges from silence. No hiss, no hum, no crackling, just clean audio like the true black of an HD TV. This makes me EXTREMELY happy.